On this Memorial Day I would like to give a tribute to my Father.He is actually my step-father, but because my dad died when I was only 9 months old; he is the only father I ever knew.

A tribute because:

1. He served his country2. He married a woman who still had three young girls at home and raised them as his own.3. He never raised his voice at his wife or daughters.4. He provided them with love and kindness as well as material things.

The flag that was placed on his grave was given to me.I proudly display it in my Americana guest room.

My computer is in this room and I love glancing over at his ‘grand old flag.’

The table came from T.J. Maxx. I found the two bowling pins at D. I. for $5 for the pair. What a bargain!

I love Red White and Blue! The bed was my youngest daughters. When she married we bought them a bedroom set and kept this one for our spare room.

I bought this bedspread for $100 at Gardeners Village Quilt Shop. I know, I make quilts so what am I doing buying one? It was such a bargain I couldn’t pass it up. It would cost me more than that to make it. Everyone that sees it thinks that I did. Too bad I have to tell them the truth. Mama taught me never to lie. lol!

I have had this chest for years. I think I purchased it from Lillian Vernon. On top are a couple of Americana quilts I made.

This wooden star is my favorite thing in the room. I had seen it on P.B. clearance. I loved it but wasn’t sure if it was too large for the room. When it went as low as $79 I bought it. It certainly makes a statement! Glad I didn’t pass it up.

I had this armoire in our master bedroom at our old home. It was too small for here so I stuck it in this room. I like the pop of white.

I bought this lamp at a St. George trip. Years ago I decorated my youngest son’s room Americana. A lot of the items I used in that room. I never tire of it. A funny side note. One time when my son was in high school my hubby and I went on a get-away. He and his friends stayed at our house and took care of it. When we arrived home we saw that they had hung names on the doors of all of their bedrooms. His room was dubbed, “The Americana Hotel.” It made us laugh. See, even boys like to play pretend sometimes.

I love this poem! Zoom in to read it better. I bought this at a yard sale for $15.

A couple of little samplers I stitched.

Bathroom has more of a nautical theme.

Both the oar and sail boat came from T.J. Maxx. Gotta love that store!

I have collected blue bottles for years. This is a bit of my collection. Some old and some new.

Today we will be visiting the cemetery. My mom always said, “How do you choose between two good men?” Because of this we removed the old head stone that had my real dad and her name on it.We replaced it with one with her name in the middle and both fathers on each side.

I only took a group pic, but it’s the cute paper covered clipboard. I love the paisley! Everyone’s was just a bit different. It will be handy to clip whatever pattern I am working on at the time. Hopefully, it will keep me from saying, “where did I sit my pattern?” Have you ever done that? Please don’t tell me that I’m the only one with this problem.

Finally, we actually saw the sun shining! It had been so long I almost forgot what it looked like.

Because of this, we got to adventure outdoors. Look at Dolly’s fun patio.

I love the red day bed and her cute yellow door!

Sweet table with plenty of books and magazines to enjoy.

A view of the entire seating area. . .so inviting!

I’m sure her mannequin enjoys such a warm place to hang out. That is when she’s not shopping. Ha-ha!

In the afternoon we enjoyed show and tell. Guess who forgot to grab theirs? Yup, that would be me. Remembered the morning before we left. Didn’t grab them quite yet and then the ole memory failed me.

Chris showed a couple of quilts in the making. The first one is the kit they gave us. It still needs four more appliqued stars. One in each corner.

She worked on this fun plaid rail.

She had done hand embroidery on a bunch of blocks and now she is designing them into a quilt for her bed. It is going to be so cute! Can’t wait to see it finished.

My sister, Jeanne shared these:

She just picked this one up from the quilters. I have this same kit but haven’t made it yet. Love the colors!

This rail was a mystery quilt from a shop in Payson, Ut. At first you see the fabric, but don’t know what the pattern will be like.

She is hiding behind this Americana one. It’s so fine that I think she should be posing proud by it. She appliqued the stars, sunflowers, and house with flag. The stitchery in the middle is the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’.

Diana just finished making this quilt from leftover fabrics. The pattern is called ‘leftovers’, wonder why?

I wanted to show you the cute bags she makes to hold her projects. They have a drawstring and a cute pocket where she places a card with the name of the quilt she’s working on. Very cute, I want to make a few of these.

Zoom in to see her cute pockets better. That’s a whole lot of ‘cutes’, but then who’s counting?

I still have more show and tell to feature. I decided that this post is going to be way too long. So I am going to break it up and blog the rest at a later date.

It might be a few days, because tomorrow is Memorial Day and I would like to do a tribute post.

I hope you are getting a glimpse of the fun time I had. Wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend!

I almost forgot to leave you with another yummy recipe.

Puffed Rice Cookies

3/4 C. Butter

16 oz. marshmallows

1 pkg. (6 0z.) puffed rice

1 pkg. choc. or peanut butter chips

Melt butter and marshmallows, add puffed rice. Spread on a large cookie sheet. (lined with wax paper or saran wrap. This is just to help you roll it up. Spread melted chocolate or p.b. on top and roll up the long way. Refrigerate and slice.

I liked the peanut butter ones the best. But then I’m not a chocolate lover.

Everything we received at the retreat was dandy, but this pin cushion bust had to be my all time fav!

Thanks to Aunt Bunny and her yard sale antics it was decorated with vintage finds. The paper strips on the skirt was found in the bottom of one of the boxes of treasures.

She also provided them with antique buttons, lace, ribbons, and rick-rack.

Let me tell you, these are visionary ladies. Dolly, Maurdie, and Chris. They found the pattern on the internet. Said it was for a witch, who’d a thunk? the base is a candle holder from the $1 store. CLEVER!

Maurdie

Chris

These two are Dolly’s right hand women. Our sister Julie usually helps out, but this year she was remodeling, like I said. She did furnish a couple of yummy desserts.

In the afternoon we were presented with a wonderful ‘trunk show’. This was given by Paula, Julie’s friend. She has only been quilting for about 3 years. Wow, she took to it like Lance Armstrong riding a bike.

See what I mean, a lot of quilts! She had made all of these just this year. Twelve of them! Now, I made twelve quilts one year, only one year mind you; and they didn’t have all this applique on them. This woman makes my tired ache. She is so ambitious!

Bear with me, I know that this is a long post. I have to share with you a bit of Dolly’s yard art.

Her geranium stepping stone. LOVE the red glass!

Dolly and Julie had created a few of these yard stakes. They were all made from assorted vintage and some new glassware. Julie gave Jeanne and I materials to make our own. Thanks sis!

You’ve heard of a bottle tree, like the one in this picture.

Dolly had a little bottle garden.

Now for today’s recipe:

Dolly’s Baked French Toast

1 loaf regular wheat bread (or french bread)

6 eggs

1 1/2 c. cream

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. nutmeg and cinnamon

1/4 c. sugar

1 c. orange juice

Slap two pieces of bread together (just 1 if french), squish into a large generously greased cookie sheet. Combine other ingredients-pour over bread. Soak overnight. Bake @ 375 for 20 min. TURN THEM OVER. Top with topping. Bake and additional 20 min.

Topping: 6 Tbs. softened butter

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. chopped pecans (and macadamias)

1 Tbs. Karo syrup

This is so delicious I could eat it 24 – 7. So good it doesn’t even need syrup.

Instagram

Hello, I'm Jann

I'm a mother of 5 married children, I have 10 darling grand children with fun and crazy personalities. They help to keep me young. I love the outdoors and love to garden. Just something about getting my hands into ...